The photo shows the prime minister's two teenage daughters - who were previously unknown in their home country because of Spain's strict privacy laws that keep them out of the public eye.

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Laura, 16, and Alba, 13, were shown smiling with their parents and the Obamas at the Museum of Modern Art in New York at a reception the Obamas hosted during last week's United Nations summit. The photo was uploaded to the White HouseFlickr page last week, and quickly removed Thursday at the request of the prime minister's office.

Too late: Several Spanish papers splashed the girls' picture across their front pages, despite government officials urging not to do so. It was the first time many Spaniards caught a glimpse of their prime minister's family, according to Britain's Telegraph.

And if that wasn't enough of a media furor, the girls came under fire for their goth getups, which included long, black dresses, chunky boots and dark eyeliner seen on many "Twilight" fans.

Awkward photos are a rite of passage for presidential kids in the U.S. - just ask Amy Carter and Chelsea Clinton - but such harsh public scrutiny is new for the Zapatero girls.

It isn't easy being a teenager thrust into the spotlight, but the Zapateros do have a friend in Meghan McCain, daughter of Republican Sen. John McCain, who came to their defense in her column on the Daily Beast.

"It makes me very sad that these two girls are enduring a sort of baptism by fire with the media scrutiny that surrounds their family portrait with the Obamas," McCain wrote.

"Now, I don't know why the prime minister's daughters chose to express themselves through goth attire and quite frankly I don't care. They are teenagers expressing themselves, and clearly the prime minister and his wife had no problem with them dressing in their goth attire to meet the President. So why should we?"